Emails Disappear

[KarenZukR]

Emails periodically disappear from my documents. I import text from Word with the emails. they come through fine. The document is saved and everything is ok. Randomly when I reopen the document the emails are gone, there is no text only a tiny underline. This is a newsletter and I import the text from the same person who does the editing. The current issue I'm working on had the emails disappear yesterday and I copied them in from a previous issue. Today they are gone again. Some of the articles I import lose the emails when importing and I manually have to copy them. 

[BobLevine]

I'm sorry but can you back up and explain what you're talking about, please?

What emails? What does this have to do with InDesign and if you're bringing text into InDesign what does "disappear" mean?

Assuming you're talking about InDesign, what version of InDesign and what operating system? Exactly how are you bringing this text into your document?

[KarenZukR]

Using InDesign Version 20.3.1 Mac OS 15.5 (24F74)

The text (from different articles) is imported and all is fine. I save the document. Sometimes I open the document later or another day and there is no text where the emails were. I bring in the text by selecting existing text for the article I am replacing and importing the new text which is in Docx format from Word. Sometimes when I import the new text and it has an email address in the text it comes thru as blank. No text. I then have to select the original text from the Word document to copy and paste the email into my InDesign document.

[BobLevine]

Please update InDesign to 20.4.1.

[KarenZukR]

I will. I guess you never heard of the issue but it has happned to me many times. Might have been in previous versions. I was always just was too busy to try to figure it out. 

Thanks

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

Some possibilities...

Text is actually in overset. Look for this image at the lower-right corner of the text frame. (Select frame with Selection tool.):

File is saved in the cloud but you are opening a local version.

Check for any cloud-saved documents.

Corrupt document. Save as IDML and reopen. Then save the opened file back to INDD.

[KarenZukR]

I don't save to the cloud. There is no text overset. I upgraded the software. It happened again when I imported a document from Word and there was an email address in the text. It came through with (_.) instead of the email address. It doesn't happen to all the imprted documents.

Previous entered text with lists of people and contact info sometimes lose the entire column of emails. It happens randomly. It hasn't happened since I updated the software but the issue above happened after the update.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @KarenZukR,

Thanks for the detailed follow-up. Since you mentioned the issue occurred even after the update, I'd recommend testing it once again using the latest InDesign version 20.5, just to ensure we're checking this on the most current build.

If the issue still happens, it would really help if you could share a few screenshots showing how the email text appears in the original Word file and how it looks after being imported into InDesign. 

Also, if possible, please share a sample of one of the affected Word files, so we can try to reproduce the issue on our end. If the file contains any sensitive information, feel free to send it to us directly via DM here on the community.

Let me know how it goes.
Abhishek

[KarenZukR]

I can't really test it since it is a random occurence but here is the word document that I import into my file and a screenshot of how it ppeared in my InDesign file. 

I didn't save the document where the column of email went missing but I incuded a screenshot of the column with the emaiks in place. {eriodically, at random the emails from my document disappear.

[leo.r]

While this clarification probably doesn't affect the nature of your problem, it appears that it's hyperlinks in general that disappear in your documents, not specifically emails:

[KarenZukR]

Yes. Very weird. Thanks.

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @KarenZukR,

Thank you for sharing the files and details. Since the issue seems to occur intermittently, could you please try saving your Word file under a new name and then import that new copy into InDesign to see if the emails or links still disappear? 

Also, for better understanding, could you share a screenshot of the Import Options window you see when placing the Word file into InDesign? This will help us check if there’s anything in the import settings that could be affecting how the hyperlinks are handled.

Looking forward to your update.

Abhishek

[KarenZukR]

I just imported it again from the same file as before and this time the email came through, although it was not linked, just underlined. When that happens I have to edit the hyperlink. I get these files from the editor who gets them from various people. They submit their files to her in Word and she says she edits them in Pages and then saves them as Word files. I doubt if that has any bearing on the situation. As I said before, sometimes a column where I have emails in the contact info just disappear even though they remain unchanged each issue and i don't touch them unless there is a name change i have to make. I can't believe nobody else has mentioned this problem.

I don't see an import window. This is what I see. I use the keyboard shortcut - command D to import text.

[Peter Spier]

They submit their files to her in Word and she says she edits them in Pages and then saves them as Word files. I doubt if that has any bearing on the situation.

By @KarenZukR

I wouldn't be at all surprised it that's exactly what the problem is. Have you tried resaving in Word befor you place the text?

[KarenZukR]

They are word files when I get them. That wouldn't cause other email addresses in my document to disappear.

I will try that for our issue next month.

[Peter Spier]

Files saved as .docx from programs other than Word are not really Word files. They are "compatible" files which often work fine, but there are times when something isn't quite the same and things fall apart when you start interpreting with a thirs program like InDesign.

Why wait for the next issue to test? Open your problem file in Word, do a save AS and then place that in InDesign and see if the hyperlinks still disappear.

[KarenZukR]

Hard to test because sometimes they come through fine. That still wouldn't explain why emails go missing at random from the contact list. I know those were word files that I imported from but can't find the original file. In fact, when those go missing I think most of the emails from articles in the entire newsletter also go missing. It has to be something with hyperlinks. 

[Peter Spier]

Not likely, but check to be sure they aren't somehow marked as Conditional Text.

[KarenZukR]

What is conditional text and how do I check it? 

[Peter Spier]

You can read about Conditional Text -- a way to show/hide text for different versions of the same document -- at https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/using/editing-text.html?promoid=XKMMH7MW&xProduct=&mv=other&mv2=aho...

Its covered near the bottom of the page.

You'll find the Conditional Text Panel under Window > Type and Tables > Conditional Text

[KarenZukR]

No conditional text.

[Peter Spier]

As I said, it wasn't likely, but it needed to be verified.

[BobLevine]

Besides conditional text, check for tracked changes and accept them all in Word.

[KarenZukR]

In the Word documents? 

[Peter Spier]

In the Word documents? 

By @KarenZukR

Yes, check for tracked changes in Word...